Table of contents

INTRODUCTORY I: THE MONASTERY

The priory of St. Bartholomew, West Smithfield, was, from the
twelfth to the sixteenth century, one of the most important monasteries
in the City of London. After its suppression, in 1539, the monastic
quire was made the parish church of St. Bartholomew the Great, the
parish priest of the monastery being made the first rector of the
parish church.

The monastic church and also the hospital of St. Bartholomew
were founded in the year 1123; the monastic church for canons
regular of the order of St. Augustine was governed by a prior; the
hospital for the relief of the sick poor was served by a master who
followed the same rule.

The founder, Rahere, had been a frequenter of the court of King
Henry I, where he was an obsequious courtier, but whether he was
in holy orders is not quite established. He, however, underwent
conversion, possibly after the king lost his son in the White Ship
whilst crossing the channel in the year 1120. He then gave up his
frivolous life and went on pilgrimage to Rome. Whilst there he fell
ill and vowed that if he were allowed to recover he would 'erect
a hospital for the restoration of poor men'. On his way home he
had a vision of St. Bartholomew the Apostle, who told him he was
to come to London and found a church in Smithfield. In accordance
with this command he founded the church, and in accordance with
his vow he founded the hospital.

The priory of St. Bartholomew's was only one of many monasteries
within and without the City of London, but it was one of the oldest,
one of the wealthiest, and the most important of them (pl. II). It was
by no means among the oldest of the ecclesiastical foundations of the
city, for the cathedral of St. Paul dates from about the year 610;
St. Martin's le Grand from about 700 (although the collegiate church
was not founded until 1056). St. Peter's, Cornhill, probably the oldest
parish church in London, tradition says was founded some time in
the second century; St. Gregory by St. Paul's some time in the
ninth; St. Alban's, Wood Street, in the tenth; St. Mary de Arcubus,
or Bow Church, in the eleventh; St. Mildred's, Poultry, is also very
early. St. John's Chapel in the White Tower was probably commenced in 1078.

When St. Bartholomew's was founded, in 1123, there were already
existing the Benedictine nunnery, Clerkenwell, founded in the year
1100; the hospital of St. Giles's in the Fields, supposed to have
been founded in the year 1101, and the Augustinian priory of Holy
Trinity, Aldgate, founded by Queen Matilda in 1108. After the
date of St. Bartholomew's there were the house of the Knights
Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem; the Benedictine nunnery of
St. Helen's, Bishopsgate, which some say was founded in the year
1160; the Knights Templars, or the New Temple, founded in 1185;
the hospital of St. Thomas (the Martyr) of Acon, in Cheapside,
founded about the same time; the priory of St. Mary, Spital, without
Bishopsgate (a hospital for poor brethren of the Augustinian order),
founded in 1197; St. Mary's Bethlehem Hospital, founded in 1247;
and the abbey of St. Clare (or the house of the Nuns Minoresses),
near Aldgate, founded in 1293. The hospital called Elsing Spital,
near Cripplegate, dates from 1329; the Cistercian abbey of St. Mary
Graces (the site of which is now occupied by the Mint) from 1349;
the Carthusian monastery of the Charterhouse from 1362; and there
were also others of minor importance.

The Friaries all date from the thirteenth century. Thus the
Dominicans or Black Friars date from 1221; the Franciscans or Grey
Friars from 1224; the Carmelites or White Friars from 1241; the
Austin Friars from 1253; the Friars of the Penitentia, or of the
Sac, from 1258, and the Crossed or Crutched Friars from 1298.

Fitz Stephen, writing about the year 1174, said there were in his
time thirteen large conventual churches in London, but he does not
mention them by name. Dugdale does not mention more than nine.

On the west side of the city, outside the wall, the large monastic
houses were almost contiguous. Commencing with the Benedictine
nunnery of Clerkenwell, there followed: the Knights of St. John of
Jerusalem; the Charterhouse; St. Bartholomew's Priory; St. Bartholomew's Hospital; the Grey Friars; and the Black Friars, with
the White Friars a little farther west.

In relative wealth, as compared with other monasteries in London,
St. Bartholomew's, at the time of the suppression, came second, with
a net income of £693. The Knights of St. John were first, with an
income of £2,385. The income of Holy Trinity, Aldgate, may have
been as large as St. Bartholomew's, but the figures are not known,
as it was separately suppressed before the others. The Charterhouse
came next with £642; then St. Mary's, Spital, with £504. The incomes
of the nunnery of St. Helen's, of St. Katharine's by the Tower, and
of St. Bartholomew's Hospital were but little over £300; the Black
Friars £104; the White Friars £62; the Crutched Friars £52.

Some idea of the relative sizes of these religious houses is gained
by comparing the number of persons in each assessed for the
clerical subsidy. (fn. 1) Thus in the time of Richard II, in the year 1379,
thirty were so assessed at St. Martin's le Grand; twenty-seven at
the Nuns Minoresses; twenty-five at Holy Trinity, Aldgate; twentythree at St. Bartholomew's, and nine at the hospital. Twenty-two
were assessed at the nunnery, Clerkenwell; twenty-one at St. Helen's,
Bishopsgate; nineteen at St. Mary's, Bishopsgate, and fourteen at
the Charterhouse. As regards the amount of assessment, however,
St. Bartholomew's and Holy Trinity head the list with an assessment
of 500 marks (fn. 2) each.

Although the income of St. Bartholomew's and others of the
monasteries may seem to be large, especially when we remember
that in comparing the purchasing power of money now with that at
the time of suppression we must multiply by 4½, (fn. 3) which would make
the income of St. Bartholomew's equal to over £3,100 of our money,
pre-war, it must be borne in mind that the expenses were great, for,
in addition to the cost of the maintenance of the fabric of the church
and of the monastic buildings, the maintenance of the services, the
feeding and clothing of the brethren, the maintenance of the servants,
and the large amount expended on hospitality to all comers and
the feeding of the poor, there were the heavy subsidies to be provided
for the king, besides other calls from the state. So onerous indeed
were these outgoings in the case of St. Bartholomew's that in the
year 1433, (fn. 4) as we shall see, special steps had to be taken to avoid
bankruptcy. In the case of St. Bartholomew's, at any rate, there
is no evidence of extravagance or of high living, so often charged
against the monasteries in general; such charges are well answered
by the facts, patent to all, that the monasteries were the great
cultivators of learning and of the arts, and the great educators of
the people. They were the centres of religious zeal, the chief almoners
of the nation, and types of hospitality. It is to the monasteries we
are indebted for the preservation of the Bible, the writings of the
early Christians, and all classical learning and literature. (fn. 5)

Apart from their religious life they took their part in service to
the realm, to the church, and to the papacy; and it may be of
interest to show from the records the part that St. Bartholomew's
took in such affairs.

Service to the Realm.

When Simon de Montfort, after capturing King Henry III and his
son Edward at the battle of Lewes, in 1264, summoned the famous
parliament of 1265, he included, among the bishops, abbots, and
priors, the Prior of St. Bartholomew's, then John Bacun. (fn. 6)

When the king, as the head of the realm, went to war, in addition
to the subsidy granted by Parliament, a subsidy, usually of a tenth,
was also granted by the clergy. The following records will serve to
show how frequently the Prior of St. Bartholomew's was one of the
collectors of that subsidy, and to what extent he was harassed and
hustled in carrying out his work; also they show how he was otherwise called upon to aid the king by loans, both in money and in kind.

In January 1308 King Edward II, (fn. 7) before embarking from Dover
to Boulogne to meet Isabella of France, his young bride of thirteen,
borrowed from the Prior of St. Bartholomew's a good cart and horse
to carry the vessels and the equipment of his household to Dover.
On the same occasion the Prior of St. John's, Clerkenwell, the Master
of the Temple, and the Abbot of Westminster had to find three carts
each; other priors had to find two each, and others only one.

In the year 1310 the same king requested a loan of victuals from
the Prior of St. Bartholomew's, among others, for his Scotch expedition
(though he did not proceed to the battle of Bannockburn until four
years later).

The prior, as lord of the manors of Great and Little Stanmore,
was under obligation to the king to raise men-at-arms in the event of
civil strife. Thus in the year 1321 (fn. 8) the barons, headed by the Earl
of Lancaster, rose against the king's (Edward II) new favourites
the Despensers, and marched to London under the Earl of Hereford.
The citizens would not allow them within the walls of the city, as
they did not wish to take sides; so, while the Earl of Hereford lodged
with the Earl of Lancaster at his palace in Holborn, Lord Roger
Mortimer at St. John's, Clerkenwell, Lord Roger d'Amari at the
New Temple, Lord Hugh Audley lodged at St. Bartholomew's. The
next day the earls, barons, and magnates held a great assembly at
the priory of St. Bartholomew, the result of which was that, although
the citizens declined to help the barons, the king, under the influence
of the Earl of Lancaster, had to banish the Despensers. But the next
year the king took up arms against the earl, his cousin, whom he
beheaded, and the Earl of Hereford was slain. This was civil strife,
so a parliamentary writ (fn. 9) was issued in February 1322 to the Prior
of St. Bartholomew's and others to raise as many men-at-arms and
foot-soldiers as they could, to march against the adherents of Lancaster
and to muster at Coventry on the first Sunday in Lent.

In 1328, the year after King Edward III came to the throne, the
merchants of the Society of Bardi of Florence had advanced, as the
king says, 'a great sum of money for his urgent affairs,' and, as
the exchequer was then closed, it being in August, he ordered the
collectors of the tenth granted by the clergy, of whom the Prior of
St. Bartholomew's was one, 'to pay at once £200 on account without
delay or excuse'. (fn. 10)

In the year 1329, during the minority of King Edward III, and
whilst the regents were allowing the Queen-mother Isabella and
Mortimer to rule, the Prior of St. Bartholomew's, as collector of the
clerical subsidy (fn. 11) of a tenth, had to pay £300 out of the subsidy to
Queen Isabella, though it was probably required for defraying the
cost of the Scotch war.

During the Hundred Years' War with France the records of the
calls upon the Prior of St. Bartholomew's for financial aid are very
numerous. Thus, at its commencement in the year 1337, when
King Edward declared war on Philip, the king urgently required
large sums of money both for the war and to secure alliances. He
therefore called upon the Prior of St. Bartholomew's to have £550 of
the tenth granted by the clergy ready at a short notice, otherwise
the prior was to be punished as disobedient. (fn. 12) This was on the 10th
of January; on the 23rd of April following the king ordered the prior,
together with sixteen other abbots and priors, collectors, to have
the money ready before Ascension Day (May 29) and paid over to
three merchants of the Society of the Bardi (fn. 13)—who had no doubt
made him an advance on the strength of the vote of the subsidy.
Again, on the 28th of June following, the king ordered the prior to
have the money collected by the 21st of July, 'under pain of punishment for disobedience.' (fn. 14) On the day appointed the prior appeared
before the Dean of York, (fn. 15) the treasurer, but he was only able to pay
part, for the reason given that the Abbot of Waltham and the heads
of eight other important monasteries had not yet paid, in spite of
the prior's endeavour to levy by ecclesiastical censure. The king
therefore ordered the sheriff to go in person to the defaulting abbots
and priors and to levy on their goods, and also ordered that the
defaulters should appear before the council to answer for the contempt and injury done.

In 1339 the prior, as collector of the triennial tenth granted by
the clergy, and of the wool granted by the prelates, was ordered to
receive money from those abbots or priors who, having no wool,
wished to pay money instead. They had besought the king to allow
them to do this, as the merchants who had wool refused to sell at
the fixed price, but asked more. (fn. 16)

In December of the same year the prior was again ordered to pay
money under a threat of severe punishment and distraint, because
William de la Pole had advanced money for the war and was prepared to advance more. (fn. 17)

In August of the following year (1340), the prior, as collector for
the London diocese, was again ordered to pay arrears due to Pole,
otherwise 'the king would stretch forth his hand to him and to his
house with the utmost rigour and would cause the money to be levied
of his manors, lands, possessions, goods, and chattels'. (fn. 18) At the
same time the Prior of St. Bartholomew's, among others, had been
commissioned to collect 20,000 sacks of wool, granted by parliament
to enable the king to conclude a treaty with the Flemings against
France. The king himself, in January 1341, wrote complaining that
the prior and his fellows had not shown sufficient energy in collecting the wool, whereby the king is put to straits and the country
endangered. He and his fellows were therefore empowered to arrest
and imprison those who showed a reluctance to pay; the Sheriff of
Middlesex being instructed to help them by all the means in his
power. (fn. 19)

In November of 1340 a promise by the king is recorded in the
patent rolls to hold the prior harmless in respect of £222 2s. 1d. taken
out of the prior's hands by the king's command from money collected
by him from procurations of cardinals. (fn. 20)

So hard pressed indeed was the king for money for the war that,
in November of 1342, the Prior of St. Bartholomew's had been
commanded by the king, then in France, to bring before the council
at the Tower of London, a chest which had been delivered to the
prior and sealed by James Gerard and Daniel de Burgham. The
chest was there opened in the presence of Queen Philippa, the chancellor, and the treasurer, apparently with the idea that it might contain
treasure available for the war. Whether it did or no we are not
told, but it was delivered again by the command of the queen to
James Gerard the owner, the king promising, by his letters patent,
to hold the prior harmless. (fn. 21)

In 1346, the year when Edward the Black Prince won the battle
of Crécy, a commission was issued to the Prior of St. Bartholomew's
and to other priors, to see that all aliens who were beneficed in the
realm, but were not resident in their benefices, came to the king's
aid with the value of their benefices for that year, and that other
aliens so beneficed and resident helped by way of loan. (fn. 22)

In 1347 the king borrowed money from 141 abbots and priors
for the war in France, in sums varying from 9 marks from the Abbot
of Dorchester, to £60 from the Abbot of Glastonbury, the amount
borrowed from the Prior of St. Bartholomew's being £5, which was
to be repaid by All Saints' Day 1349. (fn. 23)

This borrowing by the king for the Hundred Years' War was
continued for some time, for in July of 1370 there was paid to the
prior £13 6s. 8d. in discharge of 20 marks lent by the prior to the
king in the previous March. (fn. 24) And in 1386 the king borrowed £20
from the prior on account of the subsidy granted by the clergy for
his war against the Scots, who were then being helped by the French;
of this subsidy also the Prior of St. Bartholomew's was one of the
collectors. (fn. 25)

No doubt the calls upon the monasteries during the Hundred
Years' War were exceptionally heavy, but the above quotations
will serve to indicate that in times of stress the monasteries took
their part in the service of the country. The only recompenses
made to the Prior and Convent of St. Bartholomew's that we have
found, in return for their labour for the state, were, firstly that at
the commencement of the war in 1337 the king gave licence to them
to acquire in mortmain land and rents not held in chief, to the yearly
value of £20, (fn. 26) thus saving them the great expense of applying for
licence for each property they acquired (a licence which the rector
and churchwardens of the present day would be glad to possess,
because, even in reclaiming land that formed part of the original
church itself, they are compelled again to obtain licence in mortmain
at a heavy charge).

Secondly, in the year 1440 the prior, who was still acting as
a collector of the clerical subsidy (as appears from the clerical subsidy rolls of the years 1414 (fn. 27) and 1426), (fn. 28) was exempted both from
paying and from collecting the subsidy. (fn. 29) But it would appear that
this exemption was granted, not so much as a recompense for services
rendered, as by reason of the poverty of the house, brought about
partly by the many exactions made upon its funds, partly by the
reduction of rents in London, which had not recovered from the
effects of the Black Death, and partly no doubt by the cost
of the great alterations made to the fabric about the year 1405.
St. Bartholomew's was not, like many of the monasteries, liable to
the payment of corodies (that is, an allowance of money, meat, drink,
and clothing due to the king from a religious house of which he was
founder) though attempts were made by Kings Edward II and
Edward III to impose them. (fn. 30)

The yearly payment of £20 to King Henry VIII in the year 1533
recorded in the receipt of William Body, which says' of the Prior
of St. Bartholomew's for my master's half year's fee ended at the
Annunciation of our Lady £10', (fn. 31) was probably then payable for the
first time under the first act of Annates of the year 1532, by which
Prior Fuller would have had to pay his first year's income of his
ecclesiastical benefices to the king instead of to the pope.

There is an instance in the fourteenth century of the priory being
used as a place of safe custody for a monk accused of robbing the
king. The king's treasury was under the Chapter-house at Westminster Abbey, and there Edward I stored the regalia and a large
amount of money (fn. 32) for the conquest of Scotland after Wallace's
victory at Stirling. This strong room was broken into in the year
1303 and (though subsequently recovered) an immense amount of
treasure was carried off. We learn from the inventory of the
exchequer of that time that a monk, Henry of Wantenge, one of
the thieves, was taken in the act and committed to the Priory of
St. Bartholomew to remain there until further notice. (fn. 33)

There is an instance recorded in the Close Rolls in 1384 (fn. 34) showing
that the church was expected to find a place of safe custody for
public records, for in 1384 the Keeper of the Rolls 'complains to
the justices of the Common Bench of four writs being so much
damaged and rotten that they could not be read, and he said that
the Prior of St. Bartholomew's Smithfield of the foundation of
former kings ought to appoint a place in his church sufficient for
safe keeping of all writs and memoranda returned in the said bench'
on the ground that the king was seised of the place in the time of
the then prior in right of the Crown as founders. The Keeper of
the Rolls said that 'the mischief was done to the writs by rain which
because of the disrepare of the said church roof, this term suddenly
fell by night through a door of the church upon a chest wherein they
were put, and the water entered the chest through the keyholes and
joints thereof and fell upon the writs' and so he claimed to be
excused.

Besides the service of the priory to the king the religious houses
in many ways rendered service to the general public in their daily
lives:

Inquests were held in the priory of St. Bartholomew, as in the
year 1278, when it is recorded that the body of a man who was so
severely beaten in a quarrel at Bartholomew Fair that he died a week
later was taken to the hostel of St. Bartholomew for the inquest. (fn. 35)

The right of sanctuary could be claimed at St. Bartholomew's
from the first, for we read in the Book of the Foundation 'who
would not be astonished that a remarkable building of piety should
there be built to be a safe sanctuary to those who fled thereto, where
of old was the common place of the condemned and the punishment
of the wretched had been inflicted'. (fn. 36) Sanctuary was claimed here
in the year 1177 by Honorius le Rumongour, who had slain Roger
de Vilers with a knife; (fn. 37) and by John Toker in the year 1503, to
avoid paying his surety to an escheator. (fn. 38)

The doors of the monastery were always open to the traveller.
Were he rich or poor he could claim board and lodging for a night
free of charge, just as now travellers over the Great St. Bernard
pass in Switzerland can claim the same from the Augustinian hospice
there. The Pope testified to the hospitality of St. Bartholomew's
in the year 1409, when he wrote that 'the monastery being in a very
famous place of the realm, very many resort thither from the realm
and from divers other regions to its grave burden'. (fn. 39)

People were also accustomed to consider the monastery as neutral
ground in which payments of importance could be made; as in the
year 1269, when Stephen de Fuleburn, treasurer of the Hospital
of Jerusalem in England, received in the conventual church of
St. Bartholomew, from Sir John de Grey, for the use of Sir Roger de
Leyburn, 500 marks for part of John's ransom for his lands. (fn. 40) In the
year 1344 a lease of the Manor of Thragelthorpe was granted to the
rectors of Bekyngham and Colyngham, Lincoln, on the condition that
the rent should be 'payable in the Priory of St. Bartholomew, West
Smythefield'. (fn. 41) Also, in the year 1364, the cancelling of a rent was
granted on condition that the 80 marks recompense was paid in the
priory church. (fn. 42)

The prior would sometimes act as attorney for a man whilst he
was out of the country. For instance, in the year 1394, Robert de
Faryngton nominated Robert, Abbot of Roche, and John, Prior of
St. Bartholomew's, London, his attorneys for one year whilst in
Ireland on the king's service. (fn. 43) Or the prior would act as executor
to a will, as in the year 1329, when Master Richard de Gloucestre
appointed the priors for the time being of Holy Trinity, London, and
of St. Bartholomew's to be executors of the portion of his will relating
to St. Paul's church and the hospital of the Blessed Virgin without
Bishopsgate. (fn. 44) In the year 1340 Prior Pekesden of St. Bartholomew's,
Brother Richard de Ivyngzho, his co-canon, and John de Bradewell,
chaplain, were all three executors of the will of Thomas Bacoun of
Newton, Suffolk. (There was some dispute and the executors sued
a 'scire facias' upon a recognizance against one William Pernill. (fn. 45))
In the year 1282 Elias de Wycombe left his house in Aldersgate to
be sold under the supervision of his brother Sir Richard de Wycombe,
who was a canon of St. Bartholomew's. (fn. 46)

At other times the prior would consent to hold some important
document between parties which was only to be given up in certain
eventualities; as in the year 1350, when a general acquittance,
granted by Sir Walter de Manny, the founder of the Charterhouse, to
a John Malwayn, citizen of London, was delivered to the prior on
the understanding that, if Sir Walter de Manny impleaded John
Malwayn by virtue of a recognizance for four pounds made in
Sir Walter's favour, then the acquittance was to be delivered to
the said John, but if John be not impleaded then the acquittance
was to remain in the custody of the prior. (fn. 47)

The religious houses rendered very important service to the state
by reason of their schools. The most important of these schools in
London was that of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, dating probably
from the year 1176. The oldest was that of St. Peter's, Westminster,
which was certainly existing in the time of the Conqueror. Stow
says that there were also schools in other religious houses in London,
among which was that of St. Bartholomew's, as is shown later on. (fn. 48)
Stow tells us that in his time the meeting of the schoolmasters on
festival days and the disputing of their scholars logically, had long
since been discontinued, but the arguing of the schoolboys about
the principles of grammar was continued even to his time (1525–1605); he says: 'for I myself, in my youth, have yearly seen, on the
eve of St. Bartholomew the Apostle, the scholars of divers grammar
schools repair unto the churchyard of St. Bartholomew, the priory
in Smithfield, where, upon a bank boarded about under a tree, some
one scholar hath stepped up, and there hath opposed and answered
till he were by some better scholar overcome and put down.' (fn. 49)

Service to the Church.

The monasteries took their part in the government of and deliberations of the church of the realm, the regulars and the seculars working
together; and the records show that St. Bartholomew's took its
share. Thus we find that the Prior of St. Bartholomew's was frequently summoned to convocation; as in 1407, (fn. 50) when 'Bro. John,
prior of the priory', together with the Dean of St. Paul's, the Archdeacon of London, the Abbot of St. Mary Graces, the priors of Holy
Trinity, Aldgate, and of St. Mary's, Spital, the masters of St. Thomas
of Acon, of the hospital of St. Bartholomew, of the college of
St. Lawrence Pountney, and many others, were included in the
mandates of the Archbishop of Canterbury for the convocation to
be held at St. Frideswide's, Oxford.

The next year, 1408, (fn. 51) those cited by the Archbishop included the
Bishops of London, of Winchester, of Exeter, of Lincoln, and of
Salisbury; also the Abbots of St. Albans, of St. Augustine's, Canterbury, of Peterborough, and of Bury St. Edmunds, John the Prior of
St. Bartholomew's, and others. This was an important meeting
summoned to consider the best means of dealing with Lollardism.

In the year 1437, (fn. 52) 'Reginald, Prior of the priory of St. Bartholomew',
was cited, together with fifteen bishops, eleven abbots, and twenty
other priors to meet at St. Paul's on the 1st of May. In 1439 (fn. 53)
'Prior John' was cited, but, as Reginald Collier was prior from 1436
to 1471, the scribe must have entered John in the episcopal register in
error. In 1509 (fn. 54) and in 1529 (fn. 55) Prior William Bolton was cited.

The General Chapter of the order was occasionally held at St. Bartholomew's, as we show later, and, in addition, there is a record (fn. 56)
that in the year 1458 the monastery was used by the Anglo-Premonstratensians, which was an allied order, for a general chapter of
all their abbots, for the reason mentioned in the citation, viz. 'that
the advice they will need to seek in temporals as well as in spirituals
would be harder to obtain in a more remote spot'.

The priory church was constantly used, and occasionally the church
of the hospital also, for ordinations. From the registers at St. Paul's
it appears that the ordinations were always held on a Saturday
(die Sabbati), and at any rate from the middle of the fifteenth to
that of the sixteenth century they were held almost annually. They
occur in the months of February, as in the year 1490; in March,
as in 1442; in April, as in 1446; in May, as in 1448; in June, as in
1438; in September, as in 1443; and in December, as in 1436: but
Easter, Michaelmas, and Christmas were the more usual times. They
were conducted by various bishops by letters dimissory from the
Bishop of London. In those times, as now in the Roman church,
the first step to clericature in a monastery was the conferring of
the tonsure. Then the four minor orders conferred by the bishop:
the ostiarius, janitor or doorkeeper; (fn. 57) the lector or reader; the
exorcist, who read the formula of exorcism and laid his hands on the
possessed person (a power now reserved to priests only and then
only by permission of the bishop); and the acolytus, who bore the
candle when the gospel was read. Later the aspirant was admitted
to the three higher orders of subdiaconus or subdeacon, who bears
the vessel to the deacon; diaconus or deacon, who ministers to the
celebrant; and presbyter or priest who celebrates.

To quote a few instances of ordinations here: on Saturday, the
22nd of December, 1436, (fn. 58) there were ordained by the Bishop of Ely
17 acolytes, 20 subdeacons, 15 deacons, and 10 priests; among the
subdeacons was John Fuller, a canon of the priory. On Saturday,
the 10th of May, 1448, (fn. 59) there were ordained by the Bishop of Gloucester
10 acolytes, 10 subdeacons, 15 deacons, and 17 priests; three of
the priests were canons of St. Bartholomew's. On December 17,
1479, (fn. 60) at an ordination held at the hospital, the list commences with
5 exorcists, and on the 16th of September, 1498, (fn. 61) with one Benedict
(presumably one on whom the tonsure was conferred). In the
year 1506 (fn. 62) there were as many as 35 deacons and 38 priests ordained
in 'the conventual church of St. Bartholomew in Smythfeld', but
the average was 8 to 9 acolytes, 18 subdeacons, 15 deacons, and
15 priests. In the year 1497, when there was an ordination on Sunday,
December 17, at the hospital, another was held at the priory only
six days later, viz. on Saturday, December 23.

When persecutions for heresy were in vogue, in the time of
Henry VIII, we have a record of the priory church being put to a very
different use. Thus, in the year 1529, John Tewkesbury was examined
before the Bishop of London and others concerning the book 'Wicked
Mammon' which he had sold and, when he had abjured his opinions,
'he was enjoined as penance to carry a faggot at St. Paul's on the
Sunday following; to wear faggots embroidered on his sleeve; and
on Whitsun eve enter into the monastery of St. Bartholomew in
Smithfield and there abide and not come out unless he were released
by the Bishop of London.' He, however, soon returned to his previous
opinions, and, being apprehended again two years later, was burnt in
Smithfield in December 1531. (fn. 63)

Service to the See of Rome.

The abbots and priors of this country were called upon to render
many services to the holy see of Rome, demands for their services
reaching them in the form of a mandate. The Calendar of the Papal
Registers now in process of publication illustrates the nature of the
relationship of St. Bartholomew's with the papal see. Thus, in the
year 1231, Pope Gregory IX, apparently to settle a dispute, issued
a mandate to the Prior of St. Bartholomew's and to the Dean of
St. Mary le Bow, to proceed in a cause touching tithes in the diocese
of Canterbury. (fn. 64)

In 1238 the same pope, to safeguard the interests of the prioress
and convent of the Benedictine monastery of Haliwell in Shoreditch,
issued a mandate to the Priors of St. Saviour's, Winchester, of the
Holy Trinity, Aldgate, and of St. Bartholomew's, Smithfield, not to
suffer the prioress and convent to be molested in regard to a grant
made to them by St. Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln. (fn. 65)

The annulling of a sentence of excommunication was in the hands
of the pope; so, in October 1250, we find Innocent IV addressing
a letter to the prior, subprior, sacristan, cellarer, and precentors of
St. Bartholomew's, annulling their excommunication by the Archbishop of Canterbury. (fn. 66) The excommunication had taken place after
the affray with Archbishop Boniface earlier in the year, in connexion
with which the Bishop of London, the Dean and five canons of
St. Paul's, had had to go to the court of Rome (then in Lyons). (fn. 67)

In 1286 Pope Honorius V issued a mandate to the Prior of St. Bartholomew's, and to a canon of St. Paul's, in connexion with an appeal
concerning first fruits which had been heard by the Abbot of Westminster. (fn. 68)

Again, in the year 1328, Pope John XXII addressed a mandate
to the Abbot of Westminster and to the Prior of St. Bartholomew's,
to induct and defend the master of the hospital of St. Thomas the
Martyr, of Acon, in the diocese of Limassol, into possession of the
hospital of St. Thomas, London, opposition having been made by
the late master, who was deprived for simony and dilapidation. (fn. 69)

Sometimes the pope would call upon the prior and others to protect
the English possessions of some foreign bishop; as in the year 1340,
when Pope Benedict XII issued a mandate to the Abbot of St. Mary's,
York, and to the priors of St. Bartholomew's, London, and of Lenton
(Notts.) to protect Anibaldus, (fn. 70) Bishop of Tusculum, in his benefices
and possessions. A system of general reservations of livings in
England on their voidance, by mandate of the pope, was invented
by Pope John XXII (1316–1334) so that he might appoint thereto
his own nominees. This invasion of the kingdom was resisted by
the king and resulted in the making, by Edward III, in 1351 (fn. 71) and
1353, and by Richard II in 1392, (fn. 72) of statutes of provisors, the last
of which—known as the statute of praemunire—prohibited the pope
from appointing aliens and others to benefices before they were
vacant. There are several cases in the 'Regesta' where mandates
were issued to the Prior of St. Bartholomew's in connexion with
such reservation. Thus, in the year 1345, Pope Clement VI issued
a mandate to Robert atte Chirche of Gunthorp with a concurrent
mandate to the Abbot of Westminster, the Prior of St. Bartholomew's,
and the Archdeacon of Norwich, for the reservation of the church of
St. Mary Magdalene, Milk Street, London, on its voidance by William
Russell, being professed in the order of Mount Carmel. (fn. 73)

In the following year (1346) the same pope issued a mandate to
Robert de Eglesfeld, with a concurrent mandate to the Bishop of
Norwich, and the Priors of St. Bartholomew's, London, and of
St. Frideswide's, Oxford, for the reservation of a benefice in the gift
of the Bishop of Winchester. (fn. 74)

In the following year, again (1347), the same pope issued a mandate to the Bishop of Llandaff and the priors of Holy Trinity and
St. Bartholomew's, London, to give to Simon, called 'Clerk', the
vicarage of Hermondesworth in the diocese of London. (It is, however, probable that this mandate was not carried out, because the
church of Harmondsworth, which had been given to the abbey of
St. Audoen in Normandy, was seized by Edward III, by reason of
his wars with France, and he, in 1345, presented Simon de Barlinge, (fn. 75)
who remained until 1348, when the king gave him licence to exchange
with Richard de Wake.)

In 1349 Pope Clement VI again issued a mandate, with a concurrent one to the Prior of St. Bartholomew's and others, for the
reservation of a benefice to John Northeley of Pagula. (fn. 76)

This Pope Clement had begun his pontificate by a promise to grant
benefices to all poor clerks who should come to Avignon and claim
them within two months of his coronation. As many as 100,000 are
said to have come, and the 'Regesta' at Rome of his first year
consist in consequence of twelve volumes. (fn. 77) The statute of 'provisors'
caused these mandates to cease, although there is a record that, even
as late as the year 1402, Pope Boniface IX issued a mandate to the
Prior of St. Bartholomew's to reserve to the Rector of St. Clement's,
London, a benefice in the gift of the Abbot of Westminster, with
licence to hold it concurrently with St. Clement's for five years. (fn. 78)

Letters 'conservatory', that is to say, letters appointing conservators of privileges which had been granted, were issued by the
popes to the Prior of St. Bartholomew's and others, and instances
occur in the years 1348 (fn. 79) and 1357 of such letters being so issued by
Pope Clement VI. Among the Bodleian Charters is a record that
under such letters conservatory the conservators issued, in the
year 1352, a commission to the Dean of Malling, commanding him
to cite the Vicar of Tudley to appear before the Prior of St. Bartholomew's concerning the usurpation of ecclesiastical rights in the administration of the sacraments and the unjust taking away of offerings
in the church of the Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem, England. (fn. 80)

The Prior of St. Bartholomew's would sometimes be called upon
to act as an examining chaplain, as in 1349, when he had to examine
John Crochy for the office of notary conferred on him by the pope. (fn. 81)
In the year 1398 (fn. 82) a priest, and in the year 1400 (fn. 83) a clerk, were also
to be examined by the prior.

During the papacy of Boniface IX there are four instances of the
pope conferring the dignity of papal chaplain, with the usual privileges,
on canons of St. Bartholomew's; such instances being those of Philip
Sihalden in 1390, (fn. 84) of John Tebbe in 1392, (fn. 85) of William Gedeney
(who had been prior and resigned in January 1391) in 1393; (fn. 86) and of
John Yong in 1394. (fn. 87)

The Black Death, which really lasted from 1345 to 1362, together
with the difficulty of going to Rome for absolution owing to the war
with France, led to a large demand for plenary remissions at the hour
of death. The pope therefore granted such remission to whole dioceses
at once as the plague spread. (fn. 88) There is a record in the papal registers
that in the year 1352, (fn. 89) and in the year 1354, (fn. 90) indulgences were granted
respectively to John de Carleton and John de Keston, both canons of
St. Bartholomew's, 'to choose confessors who should give them, being
penitent, plenary remission at the hour of death, with the usual
safeguards.'

In the year 1355 a mandate was issued to the prior and others to
perform a further service, this time for Pope Innocent VII; they
were to cause the ordinances touching apostates to be observed in
regard to a priest of the hospital named Richard Orewell, who had
left his order but desired to be reconciled to it; on which occasion
the priest himself was the bearer of the mandate. (fn. 91)

In the year 1402 a Cistercian monk named Ranulph Biber—or
Bikere—of St. Mary Graces by the Tower, had violently cast Abbot
William of St. Mary's out of the dormitory, had refused him entrance,
had laid violent hands on him, and had applied to his own uses many
of the goods of the monastery, and, to avoid correction, had apostatized
and had appealed to the secular ecclesiastical judge. The Abbot of
Beaulieu, the father abbot of St. Mary's, hearing of this on his visitation, pronounced sentence against the monk, who was, in consequence,
imprisoned. Thereupon he became penitent, was ready to undergo
penance and desired to return to St. Mary's and obey his superiors;
he had fears, however, lest they should enjoin too rigorous a penance
and punishment. Thereupon the pope issued a mandate to the Prior
of St. Bartholomew's to absolve him upon satisfaction and penance;
to rehabilitate and dispense him on account of irregularity; to deliver
him from prison, and to restore him to his monastery. (fn. 92) On hearing
of these letters of absolution and rehabilitation, Abbot William of
St. Mary's petitioned the pope in Rome, saying that Ranulph the
monk had voluntarily renounced these letters and asking for the
sentence of the father abbot to be confirmed, which was done by
a mandate of the pope to the Prior of Holy Trinity, Aldgate, 'the
said revocation and letters notwithstanding.' (fn. 93)

An indulgence would often be granted to the secular clergy to
enjoy the fruits of their benefices for a period of five to seven years
whilst studying letters at a university; such an indulgence was
granted in the year 1395 to William Fyscher, the Rector of Clayton,
in the Chichester diocese, for seven years. (fn. 94)

A similar indulgence for ten years was granted in the year 1401
to John Parker, Rector of Snaves in the Canterbury diocese, though
in this case there was the alternative of being in the service of an
ecclesiastical prelate or of residing in the Roman court. (fn. 95) Though
we have no record of the grant of such an indulgence to any one at
St. Bartholomew's, a concurrent mandate was issued to the Prior
of St. Bartholomew's (with others) in both the above cases.

There are other instances of concurrent mandates, and there are
examples of services being required from St. Bartholomew's; but
sufficient has been said to show the large amount of service demanded
from the prior of this and other monasteries.

We may conclude this account of services rendered to the pope
by mentioning that a corresponding service was rendered by the
pope to the monastery by a grant of indulgences to the prior and
convent to assist them in raising money to defray the heavy cost of
the great restoration which took place about the year 1405. The
account of it is well given in the calendar of the papal registers under
the year 1409. (fn. 96)

The relations of the monasteries with the Corporation of the City
of London were not always of the happiest nature, and this was so
with St. Bartholomew's. The fact of the Fair belonging to the
priory and not being under the control of the City was distasteful
to a corporation jealous of privileges handed down, as some say,
from the time of the Romans. The disputes were all in connexion
with Bartholomew Fair; (fn. 97) but they did not prevent the prior from
accepting the hospitality of the great city companies, which it was
customary to extend to the abbots and priors of the monasteries.
For the records of the Drapers' Company—a company which was
intimately associated with the priory, owing to the large cloth market
held at the Fair—show that the priors of St. Bartholomew's, of Holy
Trinity, Aldgate, of St. Mary Overy, and of other houses were yearly
visitors at their banquets. Thus at the election feast of the year
1519 it is recorded that Prior Bolton was present, together with other
priors and the Bishop of Carlisle. (fn. 98)

Whilst the corporation in the sixteenth century did not favour
monks, as is shown by Sir Richard Gresham's letter to the king in
1538, (fn. 99) they strongly favoured the great monastic hospitals, to which
fact is due the survival of St. Bartholomew's, of St. Thomas's, and
other hospitals to this day.

St. Bartholomew's was one of the starting-points of the great
processions which the mayor and aldermen, arrayed in their suits,
held annually at Whitsuntide. Thus, whilst on Whit-Monday they
met at St. Peter's, Cornhill, whence they passed through 'Chepe'
to St. Paul's, ascended to the altar and made their offering, on WhitTuesday they used to meet at St. Bartholomew's, whence they went
through Newgate to St. Paul's; (fn. 100) and on the Wednesday they met
at St. Thomas of Acon.